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Are Most of Us Really Armchair Preppers?

armchairI’m sure you’ve heard the term “armchair quarterback” before. The term usually refers to a person who didn’t do the job or perform the act later stating what should have been done or how “they would have done it” after the fact… it can be about anything really, from an actual football game to how somebody handled a confrontation at work… to one of my posts. 😉

In this instance, however, I’m using the term to loosely refer to those people who like to read and compile information but never really act on it. I’m specifically thinking about the prepping lifestyle. Not necessarily homesteading as I feel prepping is a bit different but let’s just group it all together to include anyone who subscribes to (or says they do) the “be ready” or “be more self reliant” philosophy.

The reason why I pose this question today is because I had a brief e-mail conversation with a fellow prepper blogger who essentially stated that most people really only want the information but not to actually act on it. My first reaction was “no, not MY readers!”

But then I thought about it a bit more and began to wonder about the majority of those who visit the hundreds of blogs and dozens of forums and I wonder how many of those people as a whole actually do much of anything with regards to prepping and, like it or not, the vast majority probably don’t do much at all.

Obviously, I don’t know the answer to this for sure but I would suspect we preppers are little different than any other niche, from stock and bond traders who “talk the talk” but can’t trade to save their lives (or their portfolios) to sports enthusiasts who bash their current least-favorite sports star yet have never set foot on a field.

Don’t get me wrong, I know there are plenty of preppers out there (including many of you reading this) who really do take their prepping seriously and I think that’s awesome. And, of course, it’s all relative to. For example, I might think somebody who only stocks 72 hours of supplies isn’t really prepared for anything whereas a homesteader might think I’m not really prepared for anything either. Regardless, at least somebody who’s done something to be more self reliant is more of a “prepper” than somebody who has done nothing at all and never chooses to realize that bad things can and do happen, that store shelves can go empty in hours, and that long lines at the gas station are only in photos from the 70’s.

Anyway, the entire point to this post was to wonder whether most of us who read the blogs, participate in the forums, occasionally tell me I’m wrong, and certainly like to give their two cents on occasion… are they really prepared folks who know what they’re doing (at least with respect to their own circumstances) or are they more likely armchair preppers? More importantly, are YOU an armchair prepper? Do walk the walk or just talk the talk?

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Damian Brindle

Discover the 5 Minute Survival Blueprint course and get yourself prepared fast, easy, and inexpensively! It’s my gift from one prepper to another. 🙂

Comments

18 responses to “Are Most of Us Really Armchair Preppers?”

  1. j.h.

    To me a armchair prepper is someone who stands around and tells people how things should be done, that ‘they’ have plans for this or that but NEVER put anything concrete toward those plans except words. You’ll hear them say phrases like “I’m planning on getting this when.. I’ve thought about doing this.. Maybe you should check out xxx then get back to me what you think about it.” Those are the types I believe are armchair preppers – but hey, some people get really butt hurt over being called that or even broach the subject. I personally know people who are just these types of people – all talk, no walk.

    The same can be said about those groups who pretend to be something they’re not – especially many of these groups who claim to be a prepper group yet have heavy ties to local militias or patriot groups/movements. Call them out, they get all butt hurt about it. There’s money to be made in the prepping movement these days, it’s very similar to that of the Y2k days on many people trying to make a buck by writing a book, giving seminars and such.
    Sorry for the rant but face it people, there are armchair preppers or utter posers out there who aren’t who they claim to be, that’s just reality. If you’re getting overwhelmed with prepping, take a couple steps back and get clarity on what you’re doing and why. This isn’t a sprint to the finish, take small bites out of the priorities, you don’t need a rawles type BugOut location, 10k of ammo and firearms, massive solar electric system to run every gadget many blogs claim you need to live.

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  2. Kathy

    I’m an “inch at a time” prepper, meaning I do a little bit whenever I can. I’ve collected 6 large water container so far, each when I had just a few extra dollars. Ditto cans of food, camping gear, lighting and heating solutions, etc. Over time I’ve gathered perhaps two to three months food stores for my family, and prepping equipment is often given as gifts to my (adult) family members. I don’t go quickly, but instead, steadily, and I don’t see myself stopping any time soon.

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  3. The Prepared Primcess

    Nobody has the right to say whether I (or anybody else) is an “armchair” anything!

    I am responsible for preparing two households (us and my elderly parents) for anything, and I do the best I can. If I decide not to buy that extra few cases of whatever from Costco because my mom and I decide we want pedicures, then that doesn’t make me an armchair prepper. It just makes me willing to enjoy the fruits of my (extensive) labors.

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  4. Mary

    This prepping thing has evolved into a lifestyle for me. I’ve been prepping about a year. I stumbled unto it online from homesteading sites. At first you could have called me an armchair preppsd. But all that reading did slip into my psyche. I started noticing opportunities for prepping all around me. Prepping has become a hobby for me, I’ve set goals for skills,food storage, gear,and home projects and I get great satisfaction from meeting those goals. I enjoy reading websites such as yours for ideas, and I always have an eye out for preps on clearance, even lost dogs(a great German Shephard found us!),free plants or produce, anything that will be needed someday. I find I have less anxiety when I’ve actually done something about my worries. Having a definate supply of preps for 3 months, (getting closer to 6 months) gives me some comfort when I read the news. But there’s always more we could do isn’t there!

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  5. T.R.

    The thing about prepping , even on a small level ,is that it does eventually start to become part of your thinking . Even armchair preppers may find themselves doing this to some degree . Thats when they start being better off than most of the population that doesn’t do it in any capacity .

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  6. Rev. Dr. Michael E Harris

    The more I read (I am down to two websites a day) and the older I get, I realize that I am not going to make it in the woods. I am a bit damaged and am a bit slow in getting around. However, if the situation is such that I can stay where I am, I can get along for quite some time. I have long-term food and water storage, have plenty of means of protections, etc. I have lots of toys, I mean tools to help me survive and repair most of the things that might fail.

    I am selective in what I collect in terms of reading material, and I do copy it to share with my CERT team (I only edit for format and readability). I even have a few barter items–who wants a ton of green coffee beans?

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    1. millenniumfly

      Hey, those green coffee beans could be worth their weight in gold some day! I hear you about staying put. In my opinion, it’s the best option for most of us unless you truly have the time, money, enthusiasm, and ability to get off grid in a rural retreat… the last thing I would want is to be a walking refugee with my family in tow.

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    2. T.R.

      Your as ready as you or anybody else can be . Do I think I’m ready ? NO ! but I do what I can and thats all we can really do in the end …….but at least we are doing something .

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  7. Linda

    This morning I woke up ready to quit prepping, because I wanted to have more fun. There’s so much information out there it’s a bit overwhelming. The news is seldom good. However, I decided to keep prepping and not drop out. While shopping, there were really great food preps on sale. My Emergency Essentials order came. My garden is thriving.

    So, in answer to your question, most of us start off as Armchair or casual preppers. It is when you hit a wall and decide to keep on going that advances you as a prepper. Count me in as one rising from the chair.

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  8. Tim

    As someone fairly new to this, I believe I would be considered an armchair prepper. I have bought 4 – 6gal pails of food, have started collecting pasta and some other long term food items. I have a decent handle on protection of the home & family. I can’t afford to buy a bug out property so I am looking at staying on the outskirts of a med size city. My issue/question relates to Curtis’s post. He hit it on the head for me. There is so much info and things to do it is difficult to prioritize all the needed items. I know I am lacking in most areas but find I feel like I am spinning my wheels at times. I will check out your pathway to preparedness. Thanks for your time posting all of this info. I appreciate it greatly.

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    1. millenniumfly

      Tim, first I would say you’re NOT an armchair prepper as I see it because you’re actually trying to do things to better prepare yourself and your family… an armchair prepper to me is somebody who only seems to digest the info but never act. As for my survival course, I’m currently in the middle of a bit of a revamp over the next week or two (hopefully it will only take that long) but it might still prove useful to you in the meantime and, of course, you would have full access for a lifetime.

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    2. T.R.

      Dont stress it ……..with all the paranoia that is part of this movement , you will need to step back every now and then and listen to nothing ! …..just to clear your head . You could drive yourself crazy listening to people and thinking about the literally endless doom and gloom . Try not to get caught up in that trap , just do the best you can with what is available to you , and go to sleep at night not worrying about what if , but rather go to sleep at night knowing your doing something . Research is important , there is a lot of good advice out there …..but there is also a lot of bad advice out there as well , its up to you to do the research and filter what is what as it relates to your situation . Maineprepper on youtube is a good guy to watch , he is active duty military and his experience is more in that direction , but because of it , he knows a lot about several things . Good luck and get creative , take a look at every garage sale going on , visit flea markets , craigslist , etc . Sometimes you can find things that either the seller does not know anything about , or just wants to get rid of at a cheap to fair price .

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  9. Bob S.

    I would say yes, most of ‘us’ are arm chair preppers.

    Of course, it is the “us” that requires defining. I think this happens in any activity. An example from my own past might help explain.

    When my kids joined Scouting, so did I. I was an Assistant Scoutmaster for most of the time and 2 years or so as Scoutmaster. I was on most of the campouts, attended most of the meetings, worked the fund raisers, etc.
    Usually on the campouts, it was the same 2 or 4 adults every time. How many people attended the meetings; the same 2 to 5 people.
    Time and time again.
    Most of the parents were content in letting others do the work.

    During the same time, my sons were also in band. Guess who didn’t attend the band booster meetings, guess who didn’t work the fund raisers, etc.
    Me.

    Did that make me an ‘armchair’ band parent?

    I don’t see how Preparedness, Survivalists, etc are going to be any different from the population at large. Some will go whole hog and become incredibly prepared (me in scouting) and some will do very little to get ready (me in band) and most people will be some place in between.

    So who are ‘preppers’ and who aren’t? Doesn’t really matter in reality; the more we can do, the more we can prepare and convince others to prepare the better off we all will be.

    See I agree and disagree with you about the niche. It doesn’t matter how you or I view the readiness of anyone else or their skills or what they want to call themselves. It matters to them.

    What really matters is we don’t shut them down before they really get started. I think most people go through an evolution; casual interest, deeper interest, maybe a few hobby activities — then many people drop out. Hey they are ready for 72 hours and that is enough.

    Other do some more digger, more learning, they get more gear and then they call it good. For others, nothing will ever be enough. Some of us are caught by outside forces and have to slow down — when your wife is laid off work, it reduces a.) disposable income and b.) ability to purchase gear, training, skills.
    Where we have to be careful is not to fall into the trap of “a real prepper does/has XXXX”. I see it in the firearm community, I saw it in Scouting, I saw it in band (good grief the abuse I took from band parents) — let’s not do it in the prepper community.

    Reply
    1. millenniumfly

      Gee, Bob, first I really think you need to consider writing a contest post… this darn near qualifies. 🙂 Second, I don’t entirely agree with your analogies. Just because you didn’t participate in band but did with scouts isn’t the same thing as being an “armchair prepper” in my opinion.

      The very definition–which is of utmost importance, of course–is that an “armchair prepper” to me is somebody who spends their time and energy reading, learning, and even commenting on various aspects of a topic but never actually doing it. With this in mind, I doubt you spent hours upon hours learning about every aspect of bands, telling everybody they’re doing it wrong, and so on while never actually participating… you just choose not to have much to do with it, which is fine and normal. We all do that.

      I guess it all boils down how you want to look at the subject and, no, I wasn’t trying to lump preppers in with the “you have to have x,y, and z” either, not at all. I was just saying we’re probably no different than anybody else with a wide variety of those who are in different stages of prepping. Looking back, I’m sure I spent quite a bit of time learning, reading, watching videos, etc before I every decided to do something about it all… good points, Bob, as usual.

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      1. Bob S.

        MF,

        I think you miss my point and get it at the same time regarding the band.

        The people who dedicated hours and hours of actual activity to the band surely considered me an ‘arm chair band parent’. I never did more then drop off the kids, pick them up and write checks.

        Did I have opinions on the effectiveness of the teaching, the style, etc? Yep and I talked to the people responsible when I felt necessary.
        Each group or hobby has people who will define who really is or isn’t ‘one of them’. Preppers are no different.

        But don’t overlook the importance of knowledge either.
        Some one who has studied biology and how to do an appendectomy isn’t as available as a surgeon who has done thousands of them but is far more valuable then someone who only knows how to spell appendectomy.

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        1. millenniumfly

          I understand what you’re saying now.

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  10. Curtiss

    Interesting thoughts, I sure hope they wake up and do something, data gathering is great but action is required. I think one of the problems is that there is so much information out there that is hard to pick a starting point. Yes the blogs out there do give guidance, but if you don’t dig for it you might miss it. An addition to your site might be a tab at the top labeled “start prepping here” and list 5 things to do to start, with a link to when this is done do this and 5 more things. Prepping id like your health care, there are so many vitamins and weight loss pills etc…, and if you watch Dr Oz there is a new thing every show. The information is overwhelming to a new prepper that is data gathering. It can really set you back trying to figure out what to do first.

    I too read about 10 blogs a day, i enjoy gathering data, but i have been prepping for several months though. I have over 200 gallons of water stored, I dehydrate food from my garden and the freezer section, I got my ham radio license, i have a solar generator and a gas generator , and I encourage everyone to prepare for the best and be well prepared for the worst.

    P.S. love the new layout!

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    1. millenniumfly

      That’s a good thought on the “start prepping here” tab but that’s what I feel my 12 week survival course is about… guess I need to market that better. I wonder how you like your solar generator? I heard those things are a rip off so I never bothered to look into them. Glad to hear you’re so involved in being more self reliant at one several months in; heck, you’re making me feel like I’m behind. 😉 Oh, and thanks for the kudos on the new layout. It’s nice to hear positive comments about it on occasion.

      Reply

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